75 Years Later
by Dude Smith
Summary: (note: I rated this PG13 just to be safe, it's probably closer to PG) 75 years after Battle City, a boy named Yu puts together the Millennium Puzzle again. What evils await him in the return of the Shadow Games?


My other story has been discontinued. Anyways . . .  
  
Welcome to my new fic! Where the intros and endings are either: Random Insanity or Fangirl/Fanboy/Tea-bashing! And the fic is mostly serious!  
  
This chapter, the intro and ending are going to be . . . Drum roll please! *drum roll sounds* Hey, how'd that happen? That was rhetorical! Anyways . . . B! BRING OUT THE FANBOYS!  
  
*bound fanboys are ushered into the room*  
  
Fanboy A: What's wrong with liking Dark Magician Girl?  
  
Me: What's wrong? One, that's perverted. Two, YOU'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO SEE A CHARACTER COME OUT OF A CARD WITH A PERSONALITY IN REAL LIFE!!!! *pulls out flamethrower* *in a singsong voice* Oh, everyone!  
  
*FlamingTigressMage, Tamara Raymond, and others walk in*  
  
Tamara: Boot up the DMG torture tape!  
  
Tigress: Bring up the lava!  
  
Other person 1: Bring in the weapons!  
  
Other person 2: Bring in the . . .What else is there?  
  
Me: Nothing. Now, let the torture begin!  
  
*we see a tape of the Dark Magician Girl being tortured*  
  
Fanboys: NOOO!!! Ahhhh! The horror! *close eyes*  
  
Tigress: *evil laugh* Keep those eyes open or we'll keep them open for you!  
  
Fanboy B: How? There's lava under us, so you can't reach us!  
  
Tigress: I came prepared! *hands out weird shoes*  
  
Tamara: What are these?  
  
Tigress: The LavaShoes8000! You can walk on lava with them! Just to test . . . *pulls out weird contraption that puts the shoes on Fanboy K* Release the fanboy!  
  
Fanboy K: *drops* OWOWOWOWOW! Lava . . . seeping . . . in . . .  
  
Tigress: Oops . . . I must have missed a crack . . . *everyone else pulls off LavaShoes*  
  
Me: *to self* Wait . . . That's perfect! *to fanboys* Keep your eyes open or we make you do what HE is! *we see Fanboy K dancing around because of the lava* Put him back up! *Fanboy K is hoisted into the air where the other fanboys are, which is hanging from the ceiling* *to Tamara* How'd you make the DMG torture video?  
  
Tamara: Computers work wonders . . . Good ol' Photoshop. And good ol' Parker with Flash.  
  
Me: Parker actually *gasp* finished something he didn't have to do?  
  
Tamara: Yup. Well, it was after I threatened him a few times with my trusty sword, but whatever.  
  
Me: And now, the fic!  
  
Disclaimer: I own none of the Yu-Gi-Oh characters or the name. I only have control over the characters I made up. I give Aldea/Arcane Hunter complete credit for the idea of a story many years after Battle City and the Puzzle being recovered, although the plot of my story is completely different than hers.  
  
************************  
  
Chapter One: Awakening  
  
Yu bolted upright in bed. He shuddered and glanced at the clock. 3:40 a.m. He lay down again. What was going on? Ever since he started to put together what his mother called the "Millennium Puzzle" he had been having weird dreams about two people in his head; one about a foot taller than him, one about a foot shorter. They looked just like him, with spiky, red and yellow hair, average face, and the like. The tall one looked stern, the short one innocent and very friendly. All they ever did was stand there and look at him, like they wanted him to follow. He couldn't, for when he tried to, there was a gap too large to cross separating them. Each time he put together a piece of the Puzzle, the gap closed a bit. He always saw them in a gloomy corridor in the dreams - the corridor had three doors, two on the right, one on the left. For some reason they scared him and he woke up every time he had the dream. They had pendants around their necks - Yu freaked out as he thought of this. The pendants were the Millennium Puzzle!  
  
***  
  
The next day, Yu went to school, exhausted as usual. If it weren't for that stupid dream, he'd be sleeping fine! He had a feeling that the dream had something to do with the Millennium Puzzle, so he had brought it to school to throw into the pond nearby. When his chance to do so came, however, he couldn't bring himself to do it, and worked on the puzzle for a little.  
  
"I think this goes here . . .," Yu murmured, putting in a piece. "Yes! Good . . . Now, if I can fit in this piece . . . Here! And this goes . . . Hey! It's the last piece!" he exclaimed. "I finished the Millennium Puzzle!" he said happily, putting in the last piece. "Finally, after six months of work . . ."  
  
Right as said that and put the Puzzle around his neck, however, the school bully, Dashoin, came up to him.  
  
"Hey, twerp," Dashoin said casually. "What's this you got here?"  
  
"None of your business, Dashoin," Yu said, surprising himself. He would never have said that to Dashoin before!  
  
"Hey, the twerp's givin' me attitude! Guys, c'mere and help me pound his head into the ground!" Dashoin called. By the time Yu could think of a retort, he was sprawled on the ground.  
  
***  
  
Yu snapped his eyes open and found himself in the corridor that he dreamed of. Only this time his look-alikes weren't there. One door, the one on the left, was open. The other two were closed and had the symbol on his Puzzle on them.  
  
"Wasn't I just in front of Dashoin? What's going on? I'm confused . . ." Just then, he saw a sign over the open door that read, "Yu's Soul Room."  
  
"My soul room? What's that? And why don't the other rooms have a sign?"  
  
The sign above the open door changed to say, "You are not in physical reality anymore, Yu. You are in your mind, since you were knocked out."  
  
"Whoa, a changing sign that's not electronic? Now that's freaky . . . Am I going crazy? What's wrong with me?" And, deciding to ask the sign anyways, "And why aren't there signs above the other rooms? And why can't I get in?" he said, trying one of the doors. Jammed.  
  
The sign changed again. "The first question's answer is: No. The second: Nothing, just the fact that you were knocked out. And the other questions are not for you to know. Now, enter your soul room."  
  
"But . . ." Yu protested, but it was too late. The sign was gone. He entered.  
  
Right then, the other doors opened silently. Out stepped the two figures Yu had seen in his dream.  
  
"The sign apparently worked," the short one said.  
  
"Yes. We have been awakened, and he was obviously hurt badly or knocked out. Let me handle the situation outside."  
  
"But . . . Don't you think we should wait for Isis [A/N: Isis is Ishizu Ishtar's first name in the Japanese series, or manga. I'm using it because I think it's cooler than Ishizu. And easier to type.] and Shadi?"  
  
"They will not awaken before we initiate a Shadow Game. Allow me."  
  
"If you say so."  
  
The tall one stepped back, closed his eyes, and froze. The short one carefully and quietly closed Yu's door, which Yu assumed was more of the freakiness of the place. Then a small section of a door appeared in the main corridor. It opened, and a person stepped out. Well, a shrunken person. His hair was white and long, but not straight; it stuck out in some places intentionally. He was wearing a white sweater and blue jeans.  
  
"Ba . . . Wait, he died like any normal mortal. Then you must be . . . How did you get here, Yami [A/N: Yami translates to "Dark," so Yami Bakura is technically called "Dark Bakura" FYI. And the evil spirit in the Millennium Ring is Yami Bakura, again FYI.] Bakura?" the short one demanded.  
  
Yami Bakura grew to normal size. He chuckled in his evil manner. "When Bakura took a piece of the Millennium Puzzle, I sealed part of my soul into it. So now I am here."  
  
***  
  
The Millennium Puzzle shined around Yu's neck outside the corridor. Right as Yu was going to wake up (or at least Yu's body; another soul was controlling it), he heard a thought that definitely wasn't his.  
  
"Switch! Yami Bakura sealed his soul into a piece of the Puzzle in the past! You have to get him out!"  
  
"OK, I haven't done anything yet. Don't do anything, we'll switch again once I take care of him. Switch now."  
  
"OK." The Puzzle shined again.  
  
***  
  
The short guy closed his eyes and froze and the tall one did the opposite.  
  
"All right, Yami Bakura, it's time for you to get out of here!"  
  
"Heheheh . . ." Yami Bakura chuckled. "Long time, no see."  
  
BEGIN SPOILERS!  
  
"I thought Malik [A/N: Japanese name for Marik, again used because it's cooler.] took care of you in a duel in Battle City! You had dueled him, the consequence for losing being disappearing from the world, and you lost!" the tall one said.  
  
END SPOILERS  
  
"You know as well as I do that we immortals cannot truly disappear unless sent to the World of Darkness [A/N: Pretty much the manga Shadow Realm, but the "Shadow Realm" is cheesy and overused.] or if the Millennium item they reside in is destroyed permanently."  
  
"True. Now, I want you out of here!"  
  
"Hmph. Shall we play a Shadow Game of my choosing to determine that?"  
  
"Fine."  
  
"All right," Yami Bakura said confidently. "You know that the strength of the mind can be communicated through the power of Millennium items, correct?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Well, we shall do just that. But I will warn you, I have two Millennium items, bolstering my mind power."  
  
"Two? I know you have the Millennium Ring," the Ring materialized around Yami Bakura's neck, worn like a pendant, "But what other one?" Yami Bakura held out a sphere with the eye-symbol on it. "The Millennium Eye?!" the tall person exclaimed. "But Pegasus had that!"  
  
"Yes, and I used this game to get it from him, which was why he was carried out of his castle with an "illness." He was defeated. Now, let's begin. I will warn you again - I have an extra Millennium item, so that makes me more powerful than you."  
  
"No, Yami Bakura," the figure retorted. "Because I am friends with . . .  
  
***  
  
Director: CUT!!!!! How many times must I tell you? You are NOT working for 4Kids anymore?  
  
Figure: Sorry.  
  
Director: *sigh* Take 42 . . . And . . . Action!  
  
*** "No, Yami Bakura," the figure retorted. "Because you are only in part of the Puzzle, and because only part of your soul is in it, that gives me the full strength, as well as the power of the two other souls here."  
  
"You caught my bluff. By the way, the loser of this game is ejected from the Puzzle forever," Yami Bakura said, as a blue beam shot out from each of the points on his Millennium Ring, which was a ring with a triangle inside and cones on the outside, and they twisted together into one beam. A red beam shot out from the Millennium Eye simultaneously and twisted with the blue beam, forming a candy cane-like beam. A green beam flew out of the figure's Millennium Puzzle. The two collided.  
  
"Heheh . . ." Yami Bakura thought. "He doesn't realize that I, too, can draw some power from the other two souls in this Puzzle." The beams warred, moving towards one person, then the other, then back again. They were at a stalemate.  
  
"Good. He is showing signs of strain, which will ultimately give me the advantage," Yami Bakura thought happily. "Ah, I am making good progress. I can let up on some of the strain, so I don't waste my mental energies." He was right, of course. His beam was making progress over the figure's beam, and the figure looked tired. The beam came closer, and closer, and closer, until . . .  
  
We now go to a commercial break.  
  
(In song) "Happy Bunny's fun for everyone! Get your . . ." Static sounded. *scene shifts to a concerned-looking author and a bunch of angry readers with guns*  
  
"OK, OK, I'll get on with the story!" the author says nervously. "Geez . . . I try to get some funding . . .," he murmurs. "No, no, I'm not saying anything!" the author adds quickly.  
  
Sorry about that.  
  
Until . . . Yami Bakura flew backward into the wall and the beams dissipated.  
  
"How . . . How did . . . you defeat me? You were . . . tired and I . . . was winning!" Yami Bakura gasped, panting.  
  
"You fell for my trick. I pretended to be tired so you would let down your guard, then I concentrated extra power into one blast. Now be gone!" the figure said. The Puzzle shined.  
  
"Aaaaarrrrrgggghhhh!!!!" Yami Bakura screamed as he disappeared.  
  
"OK, I'll take over," the figure thought.  
  
"OK," came the reply.  
  
***  
  
The Puzzle shined again. Yu (under the control of the tall figure) sat up.  
  
"Good, that glitch with changing size was fixed. I feel Yu's height. That means the voice glitch is probably fixed too," Yu/figure [A/N: He will be referred to as Figure under the tall one's control, Short Figure under the short one's control, and Yu under Yu's control.] thought.  
  
"Get back here!" he yelled to Dashoin and Co.  
  
"Heh, you want some more? There's plenty where that came from. I'm surprised you got up so quickly," Dashoin replied. He strode back towards Figure.  
  
"How about we do this under my rules, just you and me?" Figure said.  
  
"Fine. I'll cream you under any rules!" Dashoin said arrogantly.  
  
"We will play a Shadow Game. I will decide the game."  
  
"Whatever a Shadow Game is, it shouldn't be too much of a problem."  
  
"Fine. Meet me by that building over there in half an hour," Figure said, pointing.  
  
"Whatever."  
  
***  
  
"I see you did come," Figure said.  
  
"Of course! I'm no wuss."  
  
"Let me explain the rules of the game. Look over there," Figure said, pointing to the top of the building. There were eight wires there. Each was attached to a small weight. The weights were secured by another wire. Below the weights was a switch that the weights could flip. "See these spheres around us? Each can form a wall in conjunction with the adjacent ones is the switch up there is flipped. The loser is the first one trapped by the walls loses."  
  
"How do we make the other's flip? And why can't one of us bolt?"  
  
"I was getting there. First, try bolting." Dashoin tried.  
  
"What the . . . I can't move!"  
  
"Exactly," Figure said. "A spell has been placed so that neither of us can do so. And yes, it is magic."  
  
"All right, ha ha, end the joke now. There's no such thing as magic."  
  
"Then how do you explain your inability to move? And let me finish." Dashoin had no explanation, so he let Figure continue. "We will take turns asking each other questions. Questions that directly ask, for example, what the worst thing you've ever done was, are not allowed. If you lie, a rope holding a weight drops, letting the weight hit a switch. You see, the purpose of this game is to force your opponent into lying about things they do not want others to know!"  
  
"Ha! That's ridiculous! But whatever, let's get going. You can ask first."  
  
"As you wish," Figure said. "Have you ever humiliated others publicly, then threatened to hurt the onlookers if they tell?"  
  
"No!" Dashoin said. A weight dropped. The switch under it flipped, and a wall appeared between two of Dashoin's spheres. "What! How did that happen? Wait . . . You threw something at it to make it drop!"  
  
"Ask that for your turn to find out if that is true or not."  
  
"Fine. Did you do something to make that drop?"  
  
"Well, yes and no. Not in the way you are thinking. You see, I enchanted the ropes on both sides to react to lies. However, I did not cut it or anything of the like." Figure's weights stayed stable.  
  
"Cheater! I'm not playing this game!" Dashoin said. He tried to leave, but could not.  
  
"We continue, Dashoin. Does hurting others make you feel good?"  
  
"Uhh . . ." he said, hesitating. "Well . . . Yes." The weights remained stable.  
  
"Good. You figured out what you should do. Ask me something."  
  
"Fine," Dashoin replied. "Are you Yu? You don't seem like him."  
  
"No." The weights stayed.  
  
"Then who are you?"  
  
"Ask that next turn, Dashoin. Meanwhile, I will ask my question," Figure told him. "Do you believe that this setup is magic?"  
  
"No." A rope cracked, and another weight dropped. Another wall formed. "Uh oh . . . Well, it's my turn. Who are you?"  
  
"Err . . . Someone pretending to be Yu." A rope on Figure's side snapped. One of his walls appeared.  
  
"You fail at your own game! Haha!"  
  
"No, I simply am not allowed to tell you that. I had to lie," Figure said, still perfectly calm. "Anyways . . . Are you truly a coward?"  
  
"No." Dashoin's rope snapped. He had three of the four walls up. "But I'm not!" he protested.  
  
"You know you are, deep in your heart. You refuse to let yourself listen to the voice telling you that you are."  
  
"Uhh . . . Right . . . How did you get in Yu's body?"  
  
"I technically am not." A rope snapped about three-quarters of the way, and the weight's weight broke the rest. Figure now had two walls, while Dashoin had three. "Again, I had to partially lie, which is why it did not break completely."  
  
"Partially? So you kind of are in Yu's body, kind of aren't?"  
  
"Save that for your next question. Do you try to make trouble to get attention?"  
  
"Uh . . . Yes, I guess . . ." His last rope stayed put. "So, are you kind of in Yu's body, kind of not?"  
  
"Yes." Neither rope broke. "Did you commit a horrible crime that you carefully covered up?"  
  
"No." Dashoin's last rope broke, and he found himself trapped in the box. He panicked and tried to get out (the two could move now) but could not. "Let me out of here!"  
  
"No, Dashoin. You lost, and I now subject you to a Game Penalty! That penalty is that you must stay in this box for eternity! Nobody can see you, hear you, or touch you. The same goes for the box. As long as you are in the box, you cannot age or die as well." The top of the box closed, and Dashoin was stuck with his own protests.  
  
***  
  
The two figures hurried into their rooms and closed the doors after conversing for a short time, and Yu opened his door and walked out. He was abruptly in control of his body, which has not where he was last. It was night by this time as well. He wondered what happened . . .  
  
***  
  
A man in a white turban, white cloak, and gown-like article of clothing was lying with his eyes closed in a small underground room. His eyes flew open at the time Figure and Dashoin started their game. He got up and went over to a stone block in the middle of the room. There was a man engraved on it in Egyptian style and slots shaped like each of the Millennium Items. As he came up to it, the engraving's eyes became white.  
  
"What year is it?" the man asked in an almost mechanical voice. The statue's eyes turned orange and blinked a certain number of times. "Ah, so I have been waiting for 75 years for the Shadow Games to return. Has the Puzzle been completed?" The statue's eyes turned red. "Good. Will he need testing?" Again the red. "All right, I will do so later. If you please?" The eyes turned purple and a scale appeared in one slot and an ankh-shaped key in another. The man took them. "Ah, good, I see the Millennium Scales and Key once again. Is Isis awake?" The eyes turned blue. "No? How long until she does?" The eyes became orange and blinked three times. "Three minutes?" Red. "Good. Will she know to meet me here?" Red again. "Good. Thank you." The eyes reverted to normal.  
  
***  
  
In another room in Egypt, a woman was lying down with her eyes closed. She had long, dark hair and wore a traditional Egyptian gown with a gold headband. Her eyes opened three minutes after the previous conversation.  
  
"I must meet Shadi in his domain. I will go now. I believe it has been . . . 75 years," she said, and walked out.  
  
***  
  
The man in white was waiting patiently when the woman in the gown walked in.  
  
"I apologize for my being late; the signal got to me later."  
  
"Do not worry, Isis. I expected that. I welcome you. It has been 75 years."  
  
"I guessed. Thank you, Shadi." Shadi went to the statue.  
  
"If you please?" The eyes turned purple again and a necklace appeared in a slot. Shadi took it and gave it to Isis. The eyes reverted to normal. "The Puzzle has been awakened. We must locate it. I must test the boy who put it together."  
  
"Yes, and I will make sure that my brother's descendant does not come to the same end as his ancestor. I must also locate the possessor of the Millennium Ring and Eye. I will report to you, Shadi, and remember that you way always call on me for help."  
  
"Thank you, Isis. I must be going to test the boy. I can find him instantly." Shadi concentrated for a moment. "Yes, I feel it. However, it is night there. I will await him in their morning. Goodbye, Isis. Until we meet again."  
  
"Until we meet again." Shadi disappeared into a vortex. "I never did like him going into a vortex to travel . . ." She hurried off.  
  
*******************  
  
Let the fanboy-bashing continue!  
  
*we all have evil grins on our faces as we use the flamethrowers*  
  
Fanboys: *burnt to a crisp* *blink blink, anime style* *anime-style fall*  
  
Tamara: The rejuvenation potion, please? . . . I SAID GIMME THE POTION! *random person hands her a potion* Thank you. *puts some on each fanboy using Tigress' contraption* Let the torching continue! Oh, and get rid of that lava.  
  
*15 minutes later*  
  
Tigress: This is boring now.  
  
Me: Yeah . . . I know! Let's show the part of the episode where Strings destroys DMG! Many times over!  
  
Tamara: No, I like my torture tape better.  
  
Me: Yeah . . . Wait! *waves hand* *fanboys and everything, but not everyone, else disappear* Random Insanity Time!!!!  
  
Tamara: All-American Calamari [read my fics!]  
  
Tigress: Marik and 20-some girls! [Read mine first!]  
  
Me: CHEESE!  
  
Others: *blink*  
  
Tigress: We were talking about our fics. Then you say cheese. What the . . . And I thought you were sane!  
  
Me: It is random insanity time, you do realize that.  
  
Tigress: Oh yeah. TOMATO!  
  
Tamara: BLUEBERRY MUFFIN!  
  
Sarah X: FUN-FUN ISLAND!  
  
Tamara: Sarah? How'd you get here? And are you related to William X?  
  
Sarah: Yes. Dunno. No.  
  
Tigress: Oh well, whatever. FUN-FUN ISLAND 2!  
  
Sarah: Fun-Fun Island is MY phrase!  
  
Tigress: Drat.  
  
Tamara: That's my word!  
  
Tigress: Ishkabibl.  
  
Me: That's my word!  
  
Tigress: Don't make me say a four-letter word other than drat!  
  
Tamara: Hey!  
  
Me: Back to the random insanity! KAJIKESTAN! Hey, I spelled that wrong . . . Is it Kajikistan? No . . .  
  
Tamara: Forget it! DRATDRATDRATDRATDRAT!  
  
Sarah: Je suis un pomplemousse! [Translation from French to English: I am a grapefruit.]  
  
That's all, folks! R&R! 


End file.
